Still wondering whether to go for AV or stick with first past the post on 5 May? Perhaps there are some clues in the voting methods used outside national elections . . .

The Oscars: alternative vote

In 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirmed that it would henceforth be using AV to decide the best picture. Films are ranked in order of preference. When the first preferences have been counted, the least popular movie is dropped and its votes redistributed. This goes on until one film has at least 50%.

Movie producer Harvey Weinstein wondered out loud whether the new "Oscar maths" could favour Inglourious Basterds, speculating that this might be "one of those great upsets in the making". Ultimately, AV led to The Hurt Locker beating that year's blockbuster, Avatar. And in 2011 The King's Speech beat The Fighter, Inception and Toy Story 3.

The Baftas: first past the post

This existing British system also decides the winners for Bafta's prestigious awards. In the third and final round of balloting, all 6,500 Bafta members are eligible to vote once for a winner in six of the most prominent categories: best film, leading actress, leading actor, supporting actress, supporting actor and film not in the English language. Interestingly, this system led the British Academy to pick the same best films as the Oscars in both 2010 and 2011.

Eurovision: positional voting

The song contest requires national juries to rank their 10 favourite entrants, giving 12 points to the best-loved, 10 to their second choice, eight to their third, and a diminishing number, from seven to one, to their remaining picks. The song with most points wins.

Critics say this leads to block voting, with regional allies in the Balkans, former Soviet states and in Scandinavia exchanging points. Such patterns promote entrants from Iceland, Serbia and Sweden, much to the chagrin of French, Israeli and Swiss competitors – as well as former host Sir Terry Wogan.

The Nobel peace prize: unanimous consent

"The committee seeks to achieve unanimity in its selection of the peace prize laureate," explains the official site. "On the rare occasions when this proves impossible, the selection is decided by a simple majority vote."

Could such groupthink account for Gandhi never winning the award, while Henry Kissinger scooped the medal in 1973, despite his complicity in the illegal carpet-bombing of Cambodia? Perhaps.

Crufts: autocratic

Only the whim of an autocrat is suitable for picking Britain's top dog. To be fair, Crufts' best in show competitors need to have competed successfully in a Kennel Club licensed championship show before they can enter. However, once in the arena, all choices fall to a single arbiter. In 2011 it was Dr Paolo Dondina, one of the world's most accomplished purebred dog-fanciers, as well as a full-time Italian lawyer and jazz enthusiast, who decided which dog would have its day.